Life-saving mattress.



H. SCHUNBOE.

LIFE SAVING MATTRESS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12,1909.

Patented Sept. 7; 1909.

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HANS SCHONBOE, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

LIFE-SAVING- MATTRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. *7, 1909.

Application filed March 12, 1909. Serial No. 482,955.

To all whom it may concern:

from being injured. Check springs 8 which Be it known that I, HANS SoHoNBoE, a are similar in construction to the springs 7 citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Mattresses, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved life saving mattress for use in saving persons who jump from windows of houses which are on fire and the said invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved life saving mattress which is supported on springs and which yields when persons jump upon it so as to absorb the shock and prevent the person from being injured by the jump.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a life saving mattress constructed in accordance with this invention, a portion of one of the side aprons being removed. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. A is a detail vertical sectional view of a modified construction. Fig. 5 is a detail transverse sectional view of the same.

In accordance with my invention I provide a suitable frame or base 1 which may be mounted on the bed or running gear of a vehicle so that it may be readily disposed in the required position under the windows from which the persons are to jump from the burning building. At the corners of the said frame are vertical standards or posts 2 which rise therefrom and are provided at their upper ends with knobs or caps 3.

A frame 4 which carries a mattress 5 is vertically movable and is provided at its corners with irons 6 which form guiding eyes through which the standards or posts extend, the said guiding eyes serving to connect the corners of the mattress frame to the standards or posts and to permit said mattress frame and said mattress to move vertically. Supporting springs 7, which are here shown as coil springs, are placed on the standards or posts below the guiding eyes and bear on the frame 1, said springs serving to normally maintain the mattress and its frame in the initial elevated position, shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and to yield when a person jumps upon the mattress so as to absorb the shock and prevent the person are placed on the upper portions of the standards or posts 2 and bear between. the guiding eyes (3 and the knobs or caps 3, the said springs serving to check the upward rebound of the mattress, as will be under stood, said springs 7 and 8 co-acting to permit the mattress to describe vertical movements in reverse directions immediately after a person has landed upon the mattress, so that the shock of the landing becomes entirely absorbed and the person is uninjured.

At the sides of the mattress are aprons 9 which in practice may be made of canvas or of any other suitable fabric. The said aprons are stretched between the corner posts or standards, have their upper corners connected thereto as by means of straps 10 which are here shown as engaging buttons 11 on the knobs 3, and they lower edges of the aprons are attached to the sides of the mattress frame. The width of the apron is such that when the mattress and mattress frame are in their normal position midway between the ends of the standards or posts, the lower portions of the aprons are doubled. As the mattress descends under a shock such as caused by a person landing thereon, the said aprons become tightened and the aprons prevent the person from falling from the mattress as will be understood.

In Figs. 4: and 5 of the drawings I show a modified construction in which the standards or posts 12 are tubular and provided in their inner sides with vertical slots 18. The supporting springs 14 and check springs 15 are placed in the said standards or posts and the corner irons 16 of the mattress frame 17 are provided with heads 18 which operate in the said tubular standards or posts between the ends of the springs 14:, 15 and have necks 19 which operate in j slack When the mattress is in initial position and tightened by the movement of the mattress as the latter descends.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mattress, means for mount ing the same for Vertical movement thereof yieldable cushioning devices for the mattress, and aprons for the sides of the mattress normally slack When the mattress is in initial position and tightened as the mat- 10 tress descends. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HANS SCI-IONBOE.

Witnesses: I

HANS J. VVINTHERLIoI-I, TIMOTHY SULLIVAN. 

